The Martinez-Evans Little League Americans (11/12 team) saw their run at the iconic Little League World Series end in the semifinals of the state tournament on Tuesday with a 10-0 loss to Columbus Northern.

“We ran into a kid who was on,“ said Americans’ manager Robert Peel. “The kid was 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and just had a devastating curve working.”

The Columbia County Parks and Recreation 11/12 Girls All-Stars are ready to play for real again.

After winning the Georgia state tournament on June 29, the All-Stars have been cooling their heels waiting for the 2014 Dixie Ponytails World Series, which will be in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. beginning Aug. 4.

“We had state and we’ve had two scrimmages,” said head coach Scott McChesney at practice at Patriots Park on Tuesday night. “The girls are through with practice, they’re ready to start playing.”

By all acounts, the Columbia County school system’s summer learning conference at Grovetown High School was a success.

With the new school year opening on Wednesday, Aug. 6, over 2,000 teachers registered for the weeklong conference dubbed Pirates’ Assembly in honor of Friday’s keynote speaker Dave Burgess, the author of Teach Like a Pirate.

County teachers and administrators led the workshops that lasted from an hour to over two hours.

Around Columbia County, Georgia High School Association schools were out in full force Friday with the first official day of conditioning. Some chose morning sessions while others opted for evening workouts.

• Sports Academy South, Inc. Sports & Education Summer Day Camp has sessions for ages 5 to 15. Cost is $110 per week; $100 for second sibling and $90 for a third sibling. Registration is $45 per sibling if not a member. July dates are Monday to August 1 and then it finishes on August 4 to August 5. Call (706) 860-7691.

Tryouts

• Evans High School has softball tryouts August 1 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. You must have a current physical and proof of insurance in order to tryout.

Petersburg Racquet Club now begins its march to a national championship in earnest.

The club will take six teams to the USTA Jr. Team Tennis Georgia State Championships on Friday in Macon, Ga. A state title means advancement to the sectional round in Lexington, S.C. from Aug. 15-17 with a trip to the nationals in Cayce, S.C. in October as the ultimate goal.

Connor Evenson’s 10 and under team won state last year and the now 11-year-old thinks his 12 and under team is poised to do the same.

East Georgia Pop Warner is approaching the start of the 2014 season at full throttle.

After a free football clinic at Greenbrier on Monday, July 14, former Westside High School Patriot, University of Georgia Bulldog and current Kansas City Chief Sanders Commings headlined the second annual East Georgia Pop Warner Local Heroes Football Camp at Grovetown High School on Friday and Saturday.

Commings flew into Augusta for the Pop Warner camp while preparing to enter his second training camp with the Chiefs on Thursday.

Evans High School’s Matt Anderson became the latest in a growing list of Columbia County athletes to commit to play for a Division I college program.

On Thursday, after making a visit to the Georgia Southern University campus, the Knights’ senior verbally committed to play baseball for the Eagles.

“They took their time to get to know me before they brought me on campus and that really had a big impact on me because it’s the next four years of my life in terms of where I go, so it’s a big deal,” said Anderson.